Thankfulness
Thanksgiving has come and gone and now the crazy race for the holidays begins. But I wanted to stop for a moment and reflect on why I’m thankful this year.
Things For Which I Am Thankful
(OK – it may be acceptable now, but I have a near manic obsession of not ending a sentence with a preposition. I always remember “A preposition is a bad thing to end a sentence with”)
- I’m Thankful for the Travel Experiences I’ve had this year – This year, I think I’ve travelled more than I have in many years and that makes me thankful. In edition to our epic road trip across the country and back again, I got to spend a day in New York City getting to live my fantasy of joining Starfleet at the Starfleet Academy Experience at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum, a trip to beautiful Kingston Ontario for a college visit for my son, and our annual trip to the Theater Association of New York State (TANYS) Festival where I got to see a number of quality community theatre shows. And the icing on the cake was that I got to enjoy them with my family
- I’m Thankful for my Writing Experiences I’ve had this year – It was kind a big year for me as a writer (despite the fact I haven’t sold a significant number of books). This year, I took part in a book signing at a Barnes & Noble (where no one came), I sold my books at the Sherburne Arts Festival, I had my very own “Writer’s Retreat” where the whole point of the trip was to write, and I took part in the Indie Author Day event. It’s really made me accept myself as a writer. Now if I only had more time to write….
- I’m Thankful for Professional Success – People who know me will know that I haven’t always been happy with my day job (that’s probably a bit of an understatement…) However, seemingly out of the blue, I was promoted! This really meant a great deal to me because I feel like I earned it the old fashioned way – through hard work. And I’ve finally been promoted to the highest level I’ve had in my career – some of that was my own doing, some of it wasn’t. Either way, I’m thankful for it and look forward to the new challenges it will provide.
I hope that anyone reading this can look at their life and find thankfulness in their life. I know that sounds trite and just a year ago, I might have looked at my own statement very cynically. And we all know that there are many things going on in the world right now that can challenge that viewpoint. But I just want you to know that things can change and there are many things that can make us thankful.
Novel Update
Because of all of those travel experiences listed above, the actual writing of the next novel has slowed down considerably. With my promotion comes a great deal of knowledge that I need to document. So I am doing a ton of writing – just not on the novel. I’m hoping to carve out some time in the next month to spend more consistent periods writing. I can say I’m about half to two thirds of the way through the first draft – so I am making progress in drips and drabs.
Let me leave you with a picture from one of my more recent travel experiences. When we were in Kingston, we ate at a pub housed in the former law office of the first Prime Minister of Canada and I got to have the traditional Scottish “delicacy” Haggis with Tatters and Neeps. Malcolm would be envious!
Happy journeys!
Mike
Read MoreEmbracing the Writer Within
Since returning from my writing retreat, I’ve had a couple of experiences that have encouraged me to embrace the fact that I really am a writer as much as I am a programmer or musician.
Saturday, October 8, I participated in the Indie Author Day at the Sherburne Public Library. This was a national event and I was so very happy that our library chose to participate. The goal of Indie Author Day was to bring together libraries, independent authors to start a partnership to get independent works into libraries and to new readers. I was fortunate enough to share the event with Herm Sherwood-Sitts, Justin Palmer (local authors), Brian McDowell, owner of Log Cabin Books (a small independent publisher) and a number of people interested in becoming authors. Writing is a solitary pursuit so it was nice to have a discussion with fellow writers and share experiences. And to top it off, I sold a book to a high school friend who I haven’t seen in a long time.
One of my takeaways from the Indie Author Days was learning not be afraid of asking people to buying your books. This was the push I needed to take part in “Artistic Discovery”, an event where people can sell arts and crafts at my place of employment. I really had no idea how many I would sell, but I was very surprised that I sold fourteen books.
Between my writing retreat and these two events, it’s forced me to really embrace the fact that I’m a writer. As I mentioned in my last post, I tend to not self identify as a writer. Although I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve written a book, I am hesitant to mention it. I’m not sure why exactly. I think it comes from being picked on in high school about being smart. It’s taken me a long time to embrace being a a computer programming, Star Trek loving epitome of a nerd. One thing that has helped is that there’s been an acceptance of geek culture in the last ten years or so. And social media has allowed people of the various geek tribes to come together. But writing is a little different. Writing is perceived as more intellectual. And without getting too political, I can safely say that there definitely is a large current of anti-intellectualism going on in this country. Admitting you’re a writer is like admitting you’re an intellectual elitist.
Especially now, writing is NOT elitist. Anyone can write, anyone can publish. All you need to start is a pen and a bunch of paper. My former English teachers and English teacher friends will hate me for saying this, but our educational system crushed any love of writing out us with the essays analyzing the symbolism in A Farewell To Arms (here’s where I’m going to be a heretic: I pretty much loathe anything I’ve read by Hemingway). The truth is, almost everyone writes on a daily basis: email, social media posts, etc. If you want a real writing challenge, try to express a complex sentiment in the 140 character limit of Twitter. Talk about an intellectual exercise!
But we never stop to think of that as writing. And it is. Writing shouldn’t be this big scary thing; it’s something we should all embrace. Whether you publish it or not, the act of creating is important in and of itself. But if you want to publish and see that book on a library shelf, there’s never been a better time to do that.
So I’ve decided to embrace my identity as a writer and I’m asking anyone who reads this to embrace it too. We are all writers; we all have a fundamental need to communicate in a way more permanent than the spoken word. Even if we never share the words with another soul, we are at the very least, communicating with ourselves.
Now if I only had more time to write, but that’s a different story….
Happy Journeys!
Mike
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Happy 50th Birthday Star Trek!
Anyone who has read my blog (or knows me) knows about my unabashed love for all things Star Trek. If you followed our adventures cross country, you know that even though it was about looking at schools for my son, I somehow turned it into a trip all about Star Trek.
Star Trek and I are only a month and a half apart in age, so obviously, I never saw the first run episodes. I did, however, see them in syndication when I was very young. I seem to remember that they were always on late Sunday afternoon and I watched them with my dad who also liked science fiction. And I was hooked. For Christmas and birthdays, I received a phaser that was really an overgrown flashlight that projected various ships from covers that you put on the end and a set of Star Trek communicators (i.e., walkie talkies). I remember going with my dad to see Star Trek The Motion Picture and watching the rollout and flight (on the back of an airplane) of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
Alas, Star Trek faded from my TV watching in my youth, although through high school, I did see the subsequent movies. In college, I renewed my love of Star Trek when I would join my roommates to watch it on WPIX at 11:30 (after The Honeymooners) and we would try to name the episode during the first scene before the credits. Since then, I’ve seen all of the movies and all of Star Trek in it’s various incarnations. In fact, Star Trek helped me come up with the idea for my novel The Reluctant Captain.
But why do I love Star Trek so much?
The answer to that question has changed throughout my life. I think when I was young, it was the idea of going to outer space. The Apollo missions were still going and I remember watching some of the coverage. The thought of a future where we were roaming the stars inspired me to want to be an astronaut – until I realized that my eyesight would never let me be a pilot (at the time, a necessary stepping stone to becoming an astronaut).
Later in my life, my love of Star Trek became more about how engineers and knowledge of technology were valued. In high school, I received a ton of crap for being a “brain”. I often felt that because I was smart that I was inherently socially unacceptable. In Star Trek, people who were well versed in science and engineering were actually heroes. They were valued members of the crew and friends. Scotty became my role model because of his Scottish heritage (my maternal grandmother was a Robertson), his approach to almost never giving up on a problem, and his jovial nature. I have tried to model my professional life as a computer engineer on his work ethic. Channeling my inner Scotty has held me in good stead in my work as I try to solve problems; something that I will say, I’m pretty good at doing.
The themes of Star Trek have always resonated with me. Star Trek has always examined the human condition; showing the best of humanity in its heroes and worst of humanity in its villains. Its vision that we as a planet would move past our national differences to all work for the betterment of mankind while maintaining ones cultural identity is a vision I wish was true. At its best, Star Trek explores both the outer reaches of outer space and the inner space of the mind and what it means to be human.
Despite the overacting, the styrofoam boulders and other cheap scenery, here’s to Star Trek. May its vision of the future of mankind come true!
Live long and prosper,
Mike
Day Twenty Two: There and Back Again
We are finally home!
We left Erie, PA fairly early this morning and drove to Little Falls to see the Viking Ship Draken Harald Hårfarge. The ship has sailed from Norway, down the St. Lawrence, through the Great Lakes, and is now parked in Little Falls on the canal on its way to New York City.
We wanted to go aboard, but the line was very long and after all of the travel, we really wanted to get home. So we took our pictures, bought a t-shirt and headed home.
So here are the Top 10 Things I Learned Now That I’ve Been There and Back Again:
- Driving at 80 miles per hour legally is fun.
- Driving in Chicago and Ohio is decidedly NOT fun.
- I have a real appreciation for exactly how big this country really is.
- I’m kind of envious of the opportunities available in college that weren’t necessarily there when I went.
- I’m awed at the beauty of our nation; be it in the rough beauty of the Badlands, to the grandeur of Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, to the beauty of the mountains.
- Time and distance makes problems seem very small and insignificant.
- Hotel wifi is incredibly inconsistent.
- Most of the country seems to be covered in corn and soy beans.
- Home is where the heart is.
- There really is no place like home.
Now, I’m going to relax in my own house and sleep in my own bed tonight! I’m not sure when I’ll blog again, but it will be soon…maybe after I go back and face work after leaving for three weeks.
Happy journeys!
Mike
Read MoreDay Twenty One: Homeward Bound
Today,we said good bye to Cincinnati and headed northwest to our last hotel of our trip in Erie, PA.
I have to say, I couldn’t be happier to see this sign:
Because it meant: I DIDN’T HAVE TO DRIVE IN OHIO ANYMORE!
<begin rant>
Driving in Ohio has been an adventure that I do not want to do again for a while. I thought at first that it was because we were near Cincinnati – a city with its share of traffic issues. People would pass on either side of you and if there enough room to put a sheet of paper between your front bumper and their rear bumper, they had no qualms about cutting in front of you. They also seem to assume that you have to yield for them when they are cutting in front of you.
Like I said, I thought it was city related. But as we drove further and further away from Cincinnati, the driving didn’t change at all. Twice I had people cut in front of me such that I had put on my brakes because I would have hit them.
I know that I’m used to driving in the country, but I’ve now driven across the country and back. I’ve driven in Boston and all the way to Florida. I have to say I hated driving in Ohio more than anyplace else (except maybe Montreal, but that’s a different story).
And what’s with driving right up to my rear bumper so that all I can see is your grill when you can clearly see that I can’t move over or speed up? It’s not like I can go anywhere so doing that is only going to piss me off!
</end rant>
After we completed the “Escape From Ohio”, we found our hotel and ate at Quaker State and Lube.
My son and I had wings which where awesome! Tonight, we adjourned to a Barnes & Noble because the wifi in the hotel was sketchy at best…one of the hazards of traveling.
Tomorrow, we arrive home after taking a slight detour to Little Falls to see a Viking longboat that has sailed all the way from Norway, down the Saint Lawrence, through the Great Lakes and across New York State using the canal system. Gives a new definition to “Viking River Cruise”.
Happy journeys!
Mike
Read MoreDay Twenty: Under the Sea
Today, we went to the Newport Aquarium, across the river from Cincinnati. Here;s the view of downtown Cincinnati from Newport:
The aquarium was really great and we saw many things I’ve never seen before like a shark ray:
And weedy sea dragons:
And jelly fish:
And many other things like sharks:
Sea turtles:
Lion fish:
Dory:
Sea horses:
Chameleon:
“Mighty Mike” – the alligator:
And penguins:
As we finished touring the aquarium, we had to cross the Shark Bridge – a rope bridge above a tank filled with sharks with freakin’ laser beams on their head…OK, no, laser beams, but it was an enclosed rope bridge over a tank of sharks. Here’s the view from inside the bridge of the sharks below:
Here’s the view of the top bridge from inside the bridge:
It did make me feel like James Bond…okay, maybe Austin Powers…
After we finished the tour, we came back towards the hotel and stopped for Graeter’s Ice Cream (a Cincinnati favorite). We later went out to Montgomery Inn – home of my favorite ribs and barbecue sauce with other friends. We eat and talked for a long time.
Tomorrow, it’s on to Erie, PA – we’re almost home!
Happy journeys!
Mike
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